So where the bloody hell are you?

In an attempt to grab attention the Australian Tourism has created a typical beautiful tourist add but with a twist. The tagline at the end is â??So where the bloody hell are you?â?? (referring to the tourists I guess!) The original ad can be seen here or here.

The tagline has sparked some debate. In Japan it simply does not work so it was changed to the more polite â??So why donâ??t you come?â?? (The Age). The television ad was banned in the UK for the use of â??bloodyâ??, in Canada for the line â??weâ??ve bought you a beerâ?? (Wikipedia).

The media company (Downwind Media) made a parody of the film which has caused lawyers for Tourism Australia (TA) to threatened legal action over the use of the music used in the parody (the music is similar but tune and tempo are different), TA claim that the offending tune still infringed on their copyright regardless of the musical differences. TA demanded the parody be removed from Downwind Media’s website.

See the spoof on You Tube.

The parody of the tourist advert is a legitimate form of cultural remix. It is particularly relevant since the ad sells Australian cultural icons/stereotypes. Therefore there is a great deal of legitimacy in providing alternative images of that which is sold. As in many cases such as these we can see that the supression has only increased the longevity of the spoof.

The main idea of the spoof is to juxtapose the “traditional” tourist images of tourism & Australia (e.g. outback, hospitality, kangaroos, pubs, watersports, nightlife, aborigines and beaches)

with the more negative images of Australia: violence, racism, drugs, immigration detention centers, dingos, human rights violations.

Censorship Swedish Style

As I have reported earlier the Danish Muhammad Caricatures scandal led the Swedish foreign office to close down a website which carried the cartoons.

The scandal is growing so its time for an update. Previously the Foreign Minister, Laila Freivalds, claimed that the actions were carried out by a civil servant acting on his own initiative. This has now changed when she admits that she had knowledge of what the Civil Servant was going to do. The act may even have been carried out under the Foreign Ministers initiative.

Much of the “defence” (moral & political not legal) seems to be that the Foreign Ministry did not (and cannot) order the closing of a website. The Foreign Ministry simply contacted the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and informed them that one of their customers (a right wing party) had copies of the cartoons.

The difference, according to the Foreign Minister, is one of coercion and recommendation. While this difference does exist it is interesting to note that the recommendations made by a private individual, an interest group and the office of the Swedish Foreign Minister will be treated differently. The Foreign Minister (or indeed any Minister) knows this and therefore the act of recommendation cannot be one of simple recommendation.

Additionally the Foreign Ministry (or indeed any other Ministry) does not have the mandate to call up private citizens to make recommendations in matters of freedom of the press and speech.

Naturally the ISP has it in its power to tell the Office of the Foreign Minister to sod off. Politely or impolitely. But it comes as no surprise that a small ISP in a cut throat market is not going to risk publicity or political, social or legal reactions on the part of an unsavory customer worth (in the best case) less than 300 USD per annum.
The conclusion? Internet censorship whether in China or in Sweden works.

I dedicate this picture to the Office of the Foreign Minister for not knowing

the difference between influence and coercion.

Censorship of Underground Maps

I wrote about a website that has a collection of adapted maps from the London Underground. These maps include anagrams of the stations, rude versions of the stations, the availabiliyt of toilets, geographically realistic underground maps and more.

Sites such as these are important since they are excellent examples of the will and ability of individuals and groups to comment their own surroundings. This is naturally not always appreciated. Geofftech (the mapsite) has now recieved a legal letter demanding that he remove the maps or be taken to court.

Whether or not Geofftech is right or wrong is unimportant since he cannot afford legal representation. He has to remove the maps. Another victory for corporate censorship of free speech and the chilling effects of trademark law. Read about the legal threat here.

If you want to look at, and download, the maps then be quick – they have to be gone by Monday. www.geofftech.co.uk/tube/sillymaps/

Underground maps

Maps of the London underground are cultural artefacts. We rely on them for information and we stare at them in boredom while travelling. The term “mind the gap” has become synonymous with the London Underground. So I guess it wasnt a big leap of imagination to thinkt that someone would create anagrams of all the stations.

With the help of a computer and web-space the new anagram map of the London underground goes online. A perfect comment on our lives. Nothing terribly exciting just a nice idea.

From silly maps at www.geofftech.co.uk

Then all of a sudden the trademark lawyers leap into action. Boing Boing reports that lawyers for London Transport using trademark law are attempting to take down the map.

It is really annoying when the law is used to attempt to limit the individuals (or groups) ability to comment on their surroundings. I realise that trademark law is there for a purpose but like so much other legislation it is often used for the wrong reasons and gains more strength than it was ever intended to have.

Geofftech has collected a whole list of social commentary on London Tube Maps. His collection includes: The realistic map showing the way the tubes really travel, maps where there is no mobile coverage, the useful map showing when it is quicker to walk between stations, maps with travel times and distance and so much more…

Freedom of the press

First I would like to state right off – I did not (still do not) want to get involved in the satirical images of the Prophet discussion.

The BBC report that the Swedish government have closed down a far right news site which contained the images (via Suburbia).

The Swedish government has moved to shut down the website of a far-right political party’s newspaper over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad..It is believed to be the first time a Western government has intervened to block a publication in the growing row…
Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds described Kuriren’s move as “a provocation” by “a small group of extremists.”

“I will defend freedom of the press no matter what the circumstances, but I strongly condemn the provocation by SD-Kuriren. It displays a complete lack of respect,” she said in a statement.

Again – Without wanting to get involved in the fight about the cartoons.
The politician claims to be defending the free press while closing it down. This is retoric from another age, another country another ideology. An interesting thing to add to this is a “what if” experiment. Would the government react in the same way if one of the largest daily newspapers printed the same material? Does political courage in Sweden only apply if the opponent is weak?

How’s that for a thought this weekend?

Vad säger han?

Det börjar bli lite för enkelt att tycka Bodström har tappat verklighetsuppfattningen. Ett Bodströmcitat frÃ¥n en artikel i DN. Läs dom lÃ¥ngsamt och glöm inte att mannen är din Justitieminister…

Tanken är förstås inte att man ska bugga tidningsredaktioner. Men en tidning är rätt så lätt att starta. Därför behöver vi en särskild bestämmelse. Annars skulle det kunna få till följd att människor som ägnar sig åt människohandel och bedriver en bordell bestämmer sig för att starta en tidning och kalla bordellen för tidningsredaktion för att värja sig mot buggning.

Vad säger han? “kalla bordellen för tidningsredaktion”????? Snälla är vi medborgare sÃ¥ dumma att han inte behöver anstränga sig med att komma med bättre argument?

JEP is back

The return of a scholarly journal…

We are pleased to announce that JEP is back. As of today The Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) is back in business with a February 2006 issue, the first in more than three years. The online journal, renowned for its articles analyzing and forecasting the e-publishing industry, has a new home with the University of Michigan University Library Scholarly Publishing Office.

The first new issue includes, amongst others, articles by Bilder “In Google we Trust” and Downes “New Media Economy: Intellectual Property and Cultural Insurrection“.

So what are you waiting for? Get JEP here!

Bodström spolar ner vår integritet i toaletten

Nu börjar till och med Sossarna jaga Bodström. Anna Sjödin, förbundsordförande SSU skriver i deras nyhetsbrev med rubriken “Bodström spolar ner vÃ¥r integritet i toaletten

Vi i SSU uppmanar därför Thomas Bodström att sluta söka lösningen i enkla integritetskränkande åtgärder utan i ett mer långtgående och vidsynt förebyggande arbete.

Svaret är mer debatt, inte mindre. Mer trygghet, inte mindre. Mer jämlikhet inte mindre. Så bevisar vi för alla fiender till vår samhällsmodell att de aldrig kommer att vinna!

Undrar om han tänker lyssna på kritik någon gång?

Vatican closes source

Richard Owen has written an article Vatican ‘cashes in’ by putting price on the Pope’s copyright in The Times.

The Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Popeâ??s words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements.

For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

The edict covers Pope Benedict XVIâ??s first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff â?? as Pope and as cardinal â?? but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.

The decision was denounced yesterday for treating the Popeâ??s words as â??saleable merchandiseâ?? and endangering the Churchâ??s mission to â??spread the Christian messageâ??.

A Milanese publishing house that had issued an anthology containing 30 lines from Pope Benedictâ??s speech to the conclave that elected him and an extract from his enthronement speech is reported to have been sent a bill for â?¬15,000 (£10,000). This was made up of 15 per cent of the cover price of each copy sold plus â??legal expensesâ?? of â?¬3,500.

Not too long ago I wrote about the Vatican Ethics in Internet report being pro-Free Software. The times seem to be changing even in the Vatican. Maybe we will see papal lawyers suing for unauthorised copies. Could this lead to a black market or file-sharing of the popes texts? Would you download a papal torrent?